One Wrong Step
by Grizzly Bears BEWARE
Summary: Naruto told Sasuke, and even Gaara, in canon that he could have ended up going down the wrong path if he never made friends and met his precious people. This is a story where Naruto never got to meet his peers or know Iruka or Kakashi in a peaceful manner. He went down the wrong path unintentionally and never looked back...? AUish, Enemies with Bloodlines and Bloodlimits.
1. Chapter 1

He had been acting different lately. Their was no mistaking it. He had noticed this pattern in the young boy's behavior, but he had faith in the boy that he would perservere through all challenges and rise with the Will of Fire. But he was wrong... '_Could this be Kyuubi's doing?_' He doubted it, secret check-ups on the seal had been done, not too regularly as to avoid suspicion from the boy, but frequently enough that the seal wouldn't just malfunction without anyone knowing. But, he couldn't rule out any possibilities after this.

What were the signs that led up to this? The boy had been much less enthusiastic compared to a few years ago, less smiles, no pranks and he heard the boy had even snapped at 2 gossiping ladies on the street that usually badmouth him. Maybe too much was entrusted to the boy upon his birth... It was obviously wishful thinking on his and Jiraiya's part that the boy would grow to be a great shinobi that would bear the Will of Fire, while they handled Konoha's everlong rebuilding proccess due to the Kyuubi attack. Not to mention he was the one with the Kyuubi sealed within him.

Sarutobi felt old. Old and stupid. But now was not the time to be weak, he thought as he stood over the 3 dead chuunin puffing tobacco from his pipe. He recognized one as one of Asuma's good friends from the Academy, and sighed. The bodies were a few days old, all died from blunt force trauma and broken bones, he knew his son would never forgive the boy despite the fact that it may not have been the boy's fault. It was sad, Asuma could've very well been his Sensei one day.

Sarutobi's mind began to focus on more important things like the headstart the skillful prankster already had, and what to do about repercussions. They would have to be severe... And the unknown power level an enraged Jinchuuriki of the most powerful bijuu could posess was worrisome. The old leader began pondering which Hunter-nin squad he should send to recover Konoha's weapon, when an old, faint yet authoritative voice called out to him.

"Hiruzen..." Said a man of about the same age as Sarutobi who almost seemed as if he had just materialized in the spot where he stood in the small moonlit courtyard. The area wasn't to far away from the Shinobi Academy and was surrounded by trees and shrubbery held back by a tall wooden fence with a pathway leading to a shop and the business hub of Konoha. He wore similar robes to Sarutobi, and his head was almost fully bandaged except for his left eye and a portion of his steely, almost perpetually grim face.

"You know this could've been avoided-"

"I am aware. I really have nothing to say right now on the matter..." Sarutobi still had yet to even turn around to greet this man who had arrived at the scene of the chuunin's deaths. The other apparent village elder, with his arms crossed behind his back, sighed and closed his eyes and prepared to speak again.

"I know you are feeling despair, more than you have felt in sometime my old friend. But at this state in time it is more important than ever that your mind is clear and you do what you can to rectify the decisions of your past..." The man reopened his eye to the crack it usually was, wrinkles coiling back into place. He turned that same sharp eye on the village leader's back.

"When we have retrieved him, will you entrust Naruto to my corps?"

"..."

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe slowly, regretfully, mulling the request over in his mind. He exhaled smoke loudly, finally turning to face his colleague and old friend, resting a calculating eye of his own on the man.

"_If _we retrieve him, I fear I will have no choice Danzo."

XxX

A 9 year old boy awoke surrounded on all sides by a dreary looking forest with mist permeating the air, and rain falling in a light downpour. His orange tee was bloodied and torn and the same could be said for his capri-like, navy blue slacks and his Shinobi trainee sandals were extremely worn. There was dried blood that was moistening in the rain going down his left arm, but from the way he lifted it to wipe the tiredness out of his eye, you could tell whatever wound was there did not bother him in the slightest. He slowly lifted himself off of the muddy ground and began to survey his surroundings.

"How did I get here?" He whispered, he couldn't remember much about the journey or why he even took it. It was all just a red haze... kind of. Some things were popping up in his head, like the fact that he had been running... for 3 days. In the beginning it felt incredible, to go so fast for so long, he didn't know why or how but his chakra was literally on fire and he could run endlessly. But after awhile his body grew extremely sore, but he couldn't stop? For some reason he felt he just had to keep running. 'Why was I running? Because I could? That's dumb, I don't even remember! Konoha must be really far from here too! And why is there all this... blood... on me?'

His internal tirade came to an abrupt end when he noticed the peculiarity on his person. He finally noticed that his shirt was hanging about him limply, after a moment of bewilderment he took it off to examine it closer. 'What the!? It looks like I was slashed! But I don't feel hurt,' He threw the shirt into a bush nonchalantly, then checked behind him on his shoulder and back. 'And there's not even a mark! What the heck is going on!' He punched a nearby tree in his quick moment of rage. He didn't notice the web of cracks left in the tree bark as he went back into his thoughts.

'It was probably those stupid villagers! They finally got the nerve to attack me... Why!? Why me, I was going to start focusing this year in class! I stopped pulling pranks! Why!? Why!?' He took another infuriated swing at the tree.

"Why!" The young boy shouted.

The tree slowly toppled over, creating a loud cacophony of rustling leaves and cracking branches and twigs, the tree had caught in another nearby tree's branches so there wasn't a loud crash. Naruto was extremely astonished, the tree wasn't as tall or nearly as thick as the ones in Konoha but it was a decent sized tree in Naruto's opinion. It was also his opinion, that he shouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to break a tree with a punch, just what the heck happened in Konoha three days ago? But this didn't stop his anger, it just made him want to break more trees.

"Hey! That shit came from over here!"

He wasn't startled by the voices. It was just now that Naruto noticed the smell of a burning fire and burnt meat and he heard loud footsteps running toward him. A few moments later, two men came running through the thick bushes dressed in farmers clothing that looked appropriate for the weather and terrain. One of them appeared to have some makeshift battle-armor on and was weilding a decently conditioned and sized Zanbatou with no hilt or sheathe, while the other had a dented katana in his sash that was also sheatheless. They stopped a few meters away from him, there was a few trees and plenty of bushes and mud seperating them.

'Nice... sword.' Naruto slowly thought, as he stared at it. He narrowed his eyes at the other farmer with the rusty sword who began to speak.

"What the? A little shit like you did this!? My ass! Where are the demons brat!?" Naruto looked directly into the man's eyes, and could see how paranoid and frightened he really was... He could almost smell the fear on him... Which was strange, because with the way the rain was picking up his nose shouldn't have been able to catch any scent, let alone something as obscure as the smell of fear. But young Naruto noticed none of this in his hyper-sensitive state.

The frantic farmer drew his katana and pointed at Naruto.

"As a matter of fact, I don't like the way this punk looks at me with those red eyes! Are you one of those Bloodline fucks!? Huh!" His question went unanswered. Naruto stopped looking at him and directed his gaze back at the Zanbatou thinking about how cool it would be to have one. The man who spoke was unnerved by the boy's actions and it showed on his face, but the other man's facial expression was concealed by the crudely modified samurai's helmet he wore.

'I like that sword.'

"**Then take it.**"

Naruto was surprised by the response to his thought from an unknown source. So surprised was he, that he didn't even realize he had spoke his mind, literally. The farmer holding the aforementioned sword waved it in the air slightly while tilting his head at the boy.

"Oh, this old thing. Yeah it's well kept... Depending how you answer my friends question... I'll let you see how it feels."

Naruto could hear the cruel tone of his voice through the increasing downpour of rain falling. Something within him at that moment snapped, for some reason... In this strange situation... In this remote location... With this hot, primal feeling in his gut to fight that was oddly familiar.

"...I was supposed to learn about bloodlines this week." Naruto spoke with a faraway look in his red, slit eyes. The man glared at him through his helm with an unreadable look.

"I..." It looked like he readied himself, as he clutched the zanbatou with both hands.

"Don't like that answer... HAAAAH!" The crudely armored man charged, followed by his cohort, who also added to the battle cry, in an all out assault of death and murder. All directed at a young boy who they suspected of having a bloodline. If there was one thing Naruto learned that day, it was that this world was cruel.

It was mid-charge, that these men realized they had made a grave mistake in starting this altercation. The boy's brow furrowed furiosly, and his eyes widened dangerously, seemingly glowing red through the rain. His knees bent tensely and his mouth closed tightly as he glared at his attackers. None of this could have been seen by the men's untrained eyes through the rain and mist, it was not this that made them realize their mistake.

It was when the boy charged directly at them and covered twice as much distance as they had in the same time that they realized it. He met the man in the armor first, he showed no caution whatsoever for the large blade the man wielded, completely disregarding defense. Somehow instinctively he knew it was too big for the poorly skilled man to hit him fatally, any other wounds he knew he could handle... He didn't know how he knew and he didn't much care at the moment, he just wanted to fight. Naruto jumped up at the taller opponent, aiming a strike with all his might at the man's chest.

Just like his instincts told him, his fist reached the man's chestplate many seconds before he could get his overhead slash over his head. The results were devastating. The mans entire chestplate was dented badly at the point of impact, which didn't tell a good story about the internal damage the man suffered from the single blow. The zanbatou fell to the ground as the man soared for a few meters until he came to a violent collision with a tree. He coughed up blood and groaned for a moment before going completely still in the rain.

Naruto bent down and picked up the zanbatou with one hand easily, it was suitable for the man but was way taller than Naruto himself, almost six feet. Yet he didn't struggle holding it at all, he would need to test it out soon to see how it cut. He turned towards the more vocal of the two men, who was frightened considerably, looking back and forth from his dead partner and the boy who effortlessly killed him. Naruto smiled, and rested the zanbatou on his shoulder as he stalked towards the armed, yet helpless man. The man's eyes widened, and he began to shiver uncontrollably as he backed away from the boy. Naruto's smile turned into a full blown grin, unknowingly showing his canines, as he noticed every detail. The man pointed a shaky katana at Naruto, holding it with both hands.

"STAY BACK! You killed him, YOU KILLED GON! YOU FUCKING DEMON!"

Naruto completely stopped in his advance, eyes widening considerably almost glazing over, he nearly lost grip of his new weapon. He now remembered why he ran from Konoha...

_He couldn't really breathe, the wind had been knocked out of him. He was on the ground clutching his stomach from whatever blow had just hit him. He remembered walking to the ramen shop after class, then just when he had entered the shop he kind of just appeared in this courtyard... Like his entire walk had been an illusion or his imagination or something... And then he was struck swiftly and brutally in the stomach, he couldn't even tell if it was a punch or a kick._

_He looked up to catch a glance at his attacker, to find it was a single ninja dressed in the full uniform of the higher-ups. He had a tan sash around his waist with some kanji on it, but that was the only real detail he could make out about him. He was in too much pain... That was until he noticed the man pull out a shiny looking Kunai, that definitely wasn't blunted, that got his attention. Naruto had never been attacked within the village, atleast physically, so he panicked. Shivering uncontrollably, he slowly backed away from the shinobi. Seeing him take a purposefully slow step forward he turned frantically despite the pain in his stomach. He saw the exit to the courtyard that was darkening as dusk settled in. He made a mad break for it..._

_He didn't even make it a full step before he felt a terribly sharp pain bite into the left side of his back, and he fell flat on his face, blood streaming from his wound. He felt agony and hopelessness, as he lay there waiting for the finishing blow. He looked up one last time at the exit to see what could have been had he been faster. His eyes widened, there were two shinobi there dressed in a similar uniform to his attacker minus the sash standing at the exit to the courtyard with their backs turned to them. Naruto didn't even feel an ounce of hope, they certainly weren't there to help him or the other ninja, they were probably just on lookout for attacker._

_It made him mad, so mad, that he was helpless and so weak to these people. Why did they have to pick on him, his classmates, the villagers, and now even the ninja are hostile to him. He couldn't take it anymore, fuck everything._

_And at that moment something within the boy awoke, something terrible. Why? Because he needed it too. Put in this miserable situation... Inside of his own village... With this new, primal feeling in his gut to fight... He would fight with everything! _

_He turned his body slowly, feeling less and less in pain. Finally he turned upward to stare his attacker directly in his eye. He saw him standing over him looking somewhat hesitant and undecided about what to do, but then the ninja's eyes widened with fear and his entire frame seized up for an unknown reason. Naruto had no way of knowing that his eyes had changed into that of the very eyes that haunted this mans dreams for many years prior to this. The ninja's features quickly became extremely hateful and his hesitation was nonexistent. Naruto decided now he would ask his question._

_"Why? I haven't done anything."_

_"Haven't done anything? You killed her... YOU KILLED MY SETSU-CHAN! YOU FUCKING DEMON!" _

"GRAAAGHH" The farmer was in range with his katana taking an emotion filled swing at his face. Naruto didn't even have time to feel surpised or scared, he could only raise his hand up infront of his face out of instinct...

And the farmer's sword broke over his arm, much to the surprise of the enraged farmer. Even Naruto was surprised at the outcome of the man's attack, but he made a much more important realization then...

He had killed those shinobi, he didn't know how or where he got the strength needed... But it made him feel good. He was strong, certainly much stronger than this man. And Naruto realized another thing... Better yet he decided it. If this world was cruel, then he would be crueler.

He grinned savagely at the man who began quivering, Naruto gripped the zanbatou in his right hand and with a nonchalant swing... He severed the man's torso from his lower half cleanly. It was a testament to how much power this young boy had to cut cleanly through a man with a single arm. The farmer's face was locked in a silent scream as blood began spurting from both halves of the him, but soon his face became expressionless. Naruto turned away from the scene not wishing to gather all the details of the mess.

He would certainly need to get used to the messes he would leave with this weapon if he continued getting into altercations. He began to walk away from the corpse, weaving through the trees and bushes in his way. The farmer he took the zanbatou from didn't have a holster for the blade, so he had to rest the cold blade on his bare shoulders since he had ditched his ripped shirt. As he walked through the light mist and cold rain he began thinking to himself, allowing the rain to cleanse him of the old and dry blood on his person.

Naruto wouldn't go back to Konoha, he knew he couldn't atleast not until he was strong enough that they would hear his side of the story. And they could believe him... Or not. For now he would find himself in these lands. He would make his own path here, wherever it was, and carve it all the way back to Konoha.

Walking he came upon the farmer he killed first, minus the dent in his chestplate he almost looked like he was resting peacefully in the rain. His helmet wasn't on him any more, and his features were as rough as the sword and makeshift armor he owned. With black, matted hair and a bent-looking nose and a scar coming from his scalp down to his chin on the left side of his face, he certainly looked the part of a farmer turned... whatever. Naruto couldn't exactly place what the men were, and he didn't much care anymore and he continued walking.

But before he was all the way past the man, he lifted the zanbatou from his shoulders and with both hands... He cleaved the armored man and tree in one powerful swing. And then he continued walking into the forest, not even stopping to watch as the tree toppled over onto the man's halves, to messy.

The shirtless 9 year old Naruto advanced into the mist with no regrets and only a Zanbatou at his side and _his_ chakra that he himself didn't even completely understand yet.

**AN: Any questions about the story just ask them in the reviews and I'll try and answer them in the reviews. **

**Casualties of Naruto this Chapter: 3 Chuunin, 2 Farmers, 2 trees, and one Aburame beetle you probably didn't see**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello.**

The walk through the lightly misted forest was a new, somewhat surreal experience for the young Naruto. It was oddly calming, the silence of the forest, except of course the soothing sounds of the wilderness' inhabitants. Ever since the downpour had stopped, he could hear crickets chirping, and birds flying, rustling the branches above him in their hasty movements. The shrubbery had also grown thicker as he continued his trek through the unknown lands. He could even hear the bushes around him shake every now and then, signaling small animals traveling through the brush.

Naruto had done his share of survival training back at the academy but he felt uncomfortable not knowing where he was at all. One thing he did know was that he was no where near Konoha, he could tell by the coolness of the air and the perpetual presence of the mist. 'I wish I paid more attention in that stupid Geo... whatever-class, then maybe I could figure out where I am.' He thought to himself hoplessly.

He stopped walking suddenly. He took the sword off his shoulder and stuck it deep into the ground and... Plopped down into the mud.

"Maa, maa, this sword sure does get heavy after awhile!" Naruto complained to himself, as he leaned on said Zanbato. It certainly was easier to carry, only a short while ago... He brought a hand up to his head and scratched it, obviously a sign of him thinking of a way to resolve his problem. He looked down onto his lap and noticed something he could improvise with.

"Aha! That's it, It'll look so cool too!" Naruto stood up holding his fist in excitement at his proclamation.

After a couple of minutes of adjusting to his person and we can find Naruto admiring himself inside the reflection of a puddle between the brush. Naruto had had the shrewd idea of taking both his shinobi pouches, which were filled with mostly academy gear and junk that had to be emptied, and extended the straps to fit around his torso and hold his blade. One strap went around his torso normally while the other went under his right shoulder and over the left to allow him to draw the Zanbatou with his right hand adequately... Which he still felt he could do if he had to!

With his right hand he lifted the sword with more than a bit of effort, and slid it onto his back underneath the straps. He had to readjust the straps a few more times before he was completely comfortable. Thankfully the blade wasn't wider than Naruto's torso, or there would have been a problem with carrying it.

'Hmmm... Now what to do?' Naruto stood alone underneath a tree, with his hand on his chin, eyes squinted heavily in thought. He was surrounded on all sides by bushes, there was barely an opening in the thicket where he had decided to view himself in the puddle. The place was actually quite peaceful, but Naruto was getting a little to frustrated to appreciate the fruits of his spelunking.

'I have to find an objective! Without one then I'll just be some aimless wanderer!' Naruto's brow furrowed at that thought, 'But what can I do? If I don't even know where I am, then how can I think of something to do!?'

Naruto sat on the ground where there was room in exasperation, underneath the darkly colored tree that was native to the lands that Naruto found himself in. He placed his hands on the back of his head and leaned back against the rough bark of the tree and tried to look up through the many overlapping leaves above him. For him it was impossible to tell what time of day it was but from the looks of the bright grey sky, he didn't think it would be night anytime soon. That's when he figured out something to do with himself.

"Yosh! I'll find out where I am first!" He stood up holding his fists high in excitement, his regular smirk on his face, eyes squinted shut. He stood like that for a moment. Then his features drooped considerably. He plopped back down in his seat, leaning back once again with his eyes closed, he placed his hand haphazardly against his stomach as it growled furiously.

"Nevermind... First objective is food." Naruto said with total conviction. As if right on cue the bushes rustled to his left and out came a rabbit, hastily dashing into the thicket that was readily available to it on the opposite side. Naruto's eyes cracked open and his smirk came back full force, he knew whatever critter he had heard was edible. Now he had to go get it! He could feel his energy rise once again, a feeling that was definitely growing familiar.

He rose to his feet quickly and his instincts told him to immediately go on all-fours. So he listened, facing towards his right he dashed in the general direction of the rabbit through the bushes, stirring up dust in his exit. A civilian would have thought he had disappeared, had they witnessed his sudden burst of speed. It only took him moments to zero in on the rabbit, moving way faster than it could ever hope to move.

Naruto caught the rabbit in his mouth, while it was mid-hop and he managed to stop his momentum after diving through another bush. As the rabbit hung loosely by its fur from Naruto's mouth, said boy went back on all-fours and darted back to his starting point.

He arrived at the insignificant opening in all the wilderness with two more rabbits. One in each hand, he sat all three of them down in a pile, then rubbed his hands together in delight.

"Ahaa! That was way easier than I thought it was gonna be!" Now he only needed to skin them, luckily he had kept a spare practice kunai from his emptied pouch.

A few moments later and he had himself a fire going with a makeshift roast made from sticks above it, holding up his cooking meal. He sat and began waiting patiently for the meal After a couple minutes went by, he decided he couldn't wait any longer. Hungrily grabbing the one that looked the most cooked, he feasted on the well done chicken.

"Burppp!"

After exhaling the built up bodily gas, he leaned back on the base of the tree's trunk that he had chosen as his temporary camping spot. He brought a hand up subconsciously and placed it on his stomach, as his eyes seemed to zone out a bit. Finally with his hunger satisfied, there wasn't much left to occupy the young vagabond's thoughts... He had been able to keep himself rather busy. And so his thoughts drifted onto darker things.

He could picture the small wooden gateway of that courtyard so vividly... Bathed in the fall afternoon's light, for some reason it looked untouchable. His hand, he could see it reach out towards the exit! Then that sharp, sudden pain ripped down the length of his back.

Naruto gasped loudly, sitting upright from his position suddenly with his eyes wide open. His hand rose to his bare left shoulder and he clutched at it as if the wound had just appeared again. The boy bent lower to the ground, panting heavily, spittle flying out with each quick breath.

Lowering his shaking hand, he leaned back once again and clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to calm himself. To try and think of anything else... 'Don't think! Don't think about it! Don't think about anything!' He began to grit his teeth due to his mental efforts. But his inner mantra was all in vain, it was as if he couldn't escape these thoughts.

_"You killed her..."_

_"STAY BACK! You killed him!" _

Naruto threw his hands over his ears furiously, trying with everything he had to block out the voices.

_" ... DEMON!"_

_"GRAAAGH!"_

All he could picture anymore was screaming, angry faces, the eyes filled with nothing but hatred. He wanted to escape, disappear, anything... But when he looked towards the exit to his suffering, it was blocked off. The obstacle, only the turned backs of two nondescript Leaf ninja. Yet, the more Naruto hopelessly gazed upon them, the more they looked like tall, dark, impassable mountains.

'Somebody... Help me.'

_"Naruto,"_

_"Naruto...You shouldn't watch them cook the noodles, it'll only seem like it's taking longer."_

_"But old man, I can't wait! Ramen is the best food there is!" He could feel his feet dangling from the stool he was seated on. The afternoon sun beaming on his back only increased the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. Naruto truly enjoyed eating ramen the few times he had the chance to with the strange Old Man. "How else could we wait besides watching it cook!"_

_"Hmmm, that's a good point. You're a smart kid aren't you, haha." The Old Man smiled down from underneath his conical hat. Naruto couldn't help but smile more underneath his gaze, he tried to hide his smile by sipping some of the sweet tea he had ordered earlier._

_"Have you given any thought into what you might want to be when you get older?" The Old Man queried. Naruto looked up at him and nearly shouted his answer into his cup accidentally. He placed it down and started again._

_"I want to be Ninja!" Naruto finished by slamming down his small hand on the counter of the ramen booth, ignoring the elderly ramen chef's annoyed glance._

_"Heh heh, a fine goal..." He had a small smile and began to sip his own brand of tea. "But is that all?" The Old Man truly seemed curious._

_Naruto was surprised for a moment but he took the question as somewhat of a challenge, and replied back just as enthusiastically as his first answer. Turning in the stool to face the Old Man, and balling his fists up towards his chest, he stared directly into the Old Man's smiling face with pure determination._

_"I don't want to just be any old ninja, I want to be a really strong and brave one!" _

_The Old Man's smile grew as he stared down at the bright youth. Even the Ramen Chef couldn't help but cracking a smirk while preparing the large meal ordered by his two customers._

_"Now that's a goal you will have to work at, but you have the potential... I can see it in you." The Old Man almost whispered that last part. Naruto looked up oddly at him and then wondered something._

_"Hey Old Man were you once a ninja or something?"_

_The Old Man and the Ramen Chef both laughed at the same time, and Naruto looked a bit confused._

_"My boy, I am the most powerful ninja in the village, I am the Hokage." Naruto felt an intense feeling as the words were spoken, like his body was vibrating in his cushioned seat. Everything around him went blank except for himself and the Old Man. But the feeling was gone instantly._

_"Whoah... What was that?"_

_"Hahaha, I was just flexing my chakra a bit. I didn't want you to go disbelieving my claim because I'm a few years past my prime." The old ninja smiled down at the stunned boy._

_"Oh, I think the Ramen is finished." The Hokage said excitedly._

_Naruto couldn't help but closing his eyes and letting his nose take in the scent of his favorite flavor of Ramen..._

His nose was assaulted with the harsh smell of burnt meat, as he awoke from his childhood memories. He jolted out of his daze.

"My food!"

Jumping up, he immediately began stomping out the fire. Picking the burnt meat off of its pikes, he stared at the food in hunger but at the same time abit of disgust. 'Heh, thanks Old Man I guess you helped me this one last time. I have to try and be strong and brave from now on.' He took his first bite of one of cooked rabbits, and his mouth showed is displeasure. 'Although maybe this time, I should have watched it cook.' Naruto couldn't help but crack a chuckle at that.

After grumpily eating his burnt meal, Naruto believed it was time to continue his travels further into the forest. It was just as he started to move he began to hear something odd. It seemed to be a bit far off in the distance but he stopped moving so he could hear it better. Slowly but surely it seemed to be growing slightly louder.

Naruto started to get a bit nervous, expecting another conflict at any moment. He stood stock still, for a few more moments thinking of what to do. He could just continue forward, to avoid a meeting with whoever was making the sound... No! He had to find out who it was! It may be his only chance for awhile at finding out where exactly he was. Making up his mind, he began sprinting toward the noise.

The closer he got to it, the more the sound started to sound like a tune. He began to slow down, as the tune was becoming more and more distinct. Naruto began silently moving in a crouching form that he had learned from Academy classes, trying to avoid stepping on anything that would make noise. Before he even realized it, he had depicted the tune to be someone humming.

He ignored the realization and kept moving steadily, his mind slowly moving into a mode created from what little, yet traumatizing experience he had. Moving under the brush for added cover, he came to a slight slope in the ground and began to move even slower. Grasping at branches and leaves to stop them from moving as he passed them by, making his approach even quieter.

Stealth was something he always thought he excelled at, but right now the nerves of how real this felt were starting to get to him and he could feel a hotness build up in his stomach. But he didn't let that halt his momentum. Finally he had reached a vantage point around twenty meters away where he could see his target from, an opening in the brush that would keep him hidden even as he scoped out the possible enemy.

It was just a lone man walking, Naruto was thankful for finding him because with him he had found a pathway within the deep forest. The man appeared to be quite young and fare looking in his loosely fit dark blue kimono. He had black flowing hair tied into a ponytail at his upper back. Overall he didn't look to be too threatening but there were a few things unsettling about his person. Naruto spotted them one by one.

The first being the pouch located on his left thigh that looked an awful lot like a weapons pouch. The next were his sandals, they were alot more fashionable than Naruto's but there was no doubting that they were shinobi sandals. And the final thing was that he had stopped humming, slowing down his pace almost to a stop. He appeared to be looking around the surrounding forest oddly, it looked almost as if he was excited. Despite the man's bare forehead, it seemed like he was a ninja.

Every swivel of the young man's head made Naruto grow more and more anxious. 'Could he be looking for me?' As Naruto thought that, his hand began to slowly reach up for his zanbatou's hilt. He was starting to sweat a bit, just thinking about what could happen in the moments to come. He had never fought a ninja before... Could he win now? 'I'm stronger than before! I'll find out right now!' As he gripped his sword's hilt resolutely the young man looked up in his direction and it was almost as if they locked eyes. Naruto could see the man's white iris and matching pupils, but he really didn't care about how weird they looked.

He was giving in to his instincts wholeheartedly and bared his teeth at the man's face in the distance, not in rage but more like self defense. At the moment, he didn't have enough self control to realize his chakra was flaring. Taking his blade into his right hand and placing his left onto the ground as he hunched over preparing for an all out assault. The ninja's grin grew even wider.

"Looks like someone skilled within the mist came running towards my tune. Let us do battle, until one of us is dead to see who is stronger."

Naruto took off in a truly violent burst of speed towards his new enemy...

**AN: I will bend Naruto lore, rules and Chakra rules to my will... because this is fanfiction. Don't worry it will be logical and very Naruto-ey.**

**BTW this is an adventure into the Mist! Don't worry, Naruto's location will be revealed soon. I'm sure the few of you that have read figured out how he got there lol. No missed leg days here.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello again.**

"GRAAAGH"

Naruto came bursting from the foliage like a meteorite soaring from the sky. He let all of the nerves and anxiety within him out with that battlecry. Obviously it was no surprise attack... But any regular man would have been startled by the pure ferocity behind this primal assault. Like a beast striking at prey in the slowly darkening afternoon mist. It would have been the perfect way to assert himself in a fight to the death, had his foe not been a ninja.

As Naruto was finally in front of his target, he realized the lone shinobi was already in his own smooth stance. A left, open palm facing foward, while the right was held at his chest to counter any silly moves, with those white eyes peircing him... Awaiting his next move. He looked so composed and serious, Naruto was caught off guard and nearly hesitated on what to do next. Except he couldn't, fortunately his right arm was already in motion from his charge, and he continued without anymore delay. He let loose with a tremendous swing of his zanbatou! But he only struck air.

Naruto for that moment, experienced a totally different terror than anything he had ever felt before. The feeling when you've realized you made a grave mistake in mortal combat. Somehow it felt as if time slowed, and he met the young man's white eyes once again, they were dead serious as he was leaned to the left almost ninety degrees. His stance had widened as he reached a stop, which lowered himself even more as his right palm shot from its former position at Naruto like a missile, striking him square in the chest.

He was knocked cleanly off his feet, saliva mixed with some blood flew from his mouth, and his eyes widened in pain looking as if they were going to pop from his sockets. And yet the blow had only made him slide a few feet away on the dirt pathway they were doing battle in.

"Haaagh! Ehugh!" The air had been knocked out of him violently but more importantly, he felt really weak. As if that single blow had taken away all his strength. He sat there for a moment, with his sword still clutched in his hand staring with wide, stunned eyes at his opponent... Who was standing there laughing. Now that Naruto was closer to him he could see his cheek bones, which were somewhat pronounced, giving a regal, if not more haughty look. Not that Naruto had the words to describe it that way. The way he saw it, was just as a smug, arrogant look that he wanted to wipe off completely.

It was only enhanced by the fact that he was laughing and pointing at him while doing it. Naruto grit his teeth, but what could he do if he was powerless? Wait! 'My sword! If he had really took my strength, I wouldn't have been able to keep a hold on my sword through that blow.' Naruto thought rapidly. 'That means...' He clenched both fists and even his toes, he began to move his arms and legs in position to get up. He could feel that heat, no! The chakra, it was still there... But it wasn't the same as before, it was weaker.

"Hahaha, how old are you? You seem to be a ninja, but a pretty weak one! Mist ninja on this island do seem to be kind of rouge-ish and untrained. But you're just a baby, I can't believe you came at me like that, haha!" He appeared to be wiping provebial tears out of his eyes as he looked down on the boy. He finally stopped with his antics and looked at the boy again, with a frown now adorning his face, 'A strike like that, wasn't enough to put this one down. He is definitely quite resilient, but my form isn't the most perfect either.'

"Come now, get to your feet. I did say this was a fight to the death didn't I?"

Naruto was already rising to his feet but he was hunched over, breathing deeply. 'It's not gone. It's blocked... He blocked my chakra!' He clenched his teeth even harder in anger, beaten like this? That would mean everything he said to the Old Man was all talk, and he didn't want that. He was stronger than this, he had to show it. 'I have to force my chakra through, force it through... force it.' He felt it, something bubbling under the dull, empty feeling in his torso, he just needed to grasp it. After the first effort, it wasn't even to hard, the feeling seemed to grow the more he focused on it... and defeating, no killing his opponent. Like it was getting stronger with his anger.

Naruto looked up into the young man's white eyes with his own set of crimson ones. The man showed a strange look and appeared to marvel at them for a moment. At least until Naruto started speaking up.

"I'm not some Mist ninja, I am a strong and brave Ninja of the Leaf!" The young man was taken aback by the claim and was momentarily perplexed at his true origins. Which only served to make him even more unprepared for what the strange boy was going to do next. Which also worked in Naruto's favor. Naruto gave the final push needed and grasped greedily unto the chakra that spilled from this newfound threshold of power.

To the lone ninja, the dirt surrounding Naruto at his feet began pushing away from him steadily, and he stood straight glaring menacingly at him. Locks of the boy's hair even seemed to be bouncing softly from the chakra he apparently was emitting. He had to admit, he felt a little nervous at the boy's hidden strength but that was the best part of fighting in the Land of the Mist. A shrewd smirk came to his face. He enjoyed the excitement of fighting against the unknown, bloodlines, and bloodlimits, there were all sorts of things to fight and see in this nation. 'Let's see if this will be a good match up.'

Turning towards the boy with the smile upon his face... He couldn't help but drop that expression from it. Where did he go? 'Below!'

The shinobi saw the boy just as he got into his guard, he had taken advantage of his height and his speed to get into a blind spot. This time it was him who caught the glance of the boy and saw those crimson eyes burning with rage, completely set on this battle and nothing else... And then he saw the blade, he had it poised to the left of him with his right arm crossed over his bare torso for a ridiculously powerful swing. To him it seemed like a tail almost, a steel tail. 'With a slash like that, it looks like he's trying to cut me and this entire forest!' Though, despite how strong the attack seemed, it was still easily readable. 'I'll counter this one too.'

The boy swung.

He evaded. He even evaded with the same maneuver as last time, to his right, as this swing was at the same angle as the boy's initial attack.

He would even counter with the same blow as last time. Extend the rear foot's stance, rotate the hips, adjust the chakra usage in his palm... A perfect counter right once again found its way launched toward Naruto's sternum. But that hit nothing. 'Gone! Again?'

The boy in question went even lower to the ground with the momentum of his blade, as it stuck solidly into the dirt he was already loading up on the hardest punch he'd ever thrown in his life. 'I need to block that left, no matter what! Or this fight will end instantly.' It was easily a merit to the shinobi's skill in hand-to-hand that he was able to bring back his striking hand and his probing hand for a block, no doubt reinforced with his own chakra.

As Naruto's fist made contact he couldn't help but crack a satisfied smile, from his position nearly staring at the floor he could only imagine what that smug face looked like now. Despite already making a tremendous impact Naruto continued to push forward resulting in the man soaring backwards down the pathway more than a few meters. The young man's guard was still up as if he thought Naruto was going to come at him again, but he quickly flipped himself into an upright position, sliding a few feet back along the road.

Naruto stood with his left fist raised high in the sky as if it was a trophy, afterall it was his first successful hit landed on a ninja. His right hand gripping the hilt of his zanbatou tightly, something furious pumping within his veins. Screaming at him for more attacking, more contact with the enemy and he couldn't help but comply with his inner feelings. Naruto brought his fist down, and looked at it for a moment in satisfaction.

"We'll see who kills who now!" Unclenching his fist, and lowering it to the ground while hunching over in what was becoming somewhat of stance for him. It helped him gain a quick burst of speed for some reason beyond him. Setting his sights on his target ahead who stood wiping himself of dirt while staring at him with an unreadable look in his white eyes. "And that's a real hit!" Naruto snarled out, zanbatou faced forward as if it was a spear gripped in his right hand.

"Ohh." The young man spoke with a frown. Taking a quick glance at his right forearm, his power hand, to confirm the pain he was feeling, he winced as he saw the bruise already forming. 'Shit! It's broken, but I can still perform pinpoint strikes with it...' Looking up at his opponent, he knew that wouldn't be enough. But there was still something he could do... Something he had been craving to use for awhile. It looks like now he needed to. As the boy charged he instantly performed the Ram seal.

"Byakugan!" Veins bulged furiously along his temples, as if they were pumping blood directly into the young man's eyes giving him a whole new level of intimidation as well. The boy was already upon him, crimson eyes blazing full of intent to kill, and his next slash came in wide from the boy's right twisting his entire body to the left. The Byakugan user jumped over it easily and as he rose into the air he aimed a left kick at his ferocious enemy's exposed right temple, which had the same dangers as dealing with his palms.

To his surprise, Naruto was already leaning back towards his right, dodging his kick cleanly. He could clearly see the effort in the young blond's face as he moved the opposite way of his powerful swing... Wait, he's stopped his momentum completely with his left hand gripping the sword. 'Here comes the swing! I have to-' He was already in motion with his movements before he could even finish thinking them, performing a truly incredible backflip with no leverage, dodging the long blades tip by a hairs width. If someone asked him to do the same move for all the fortune in the world he probable couldn't do it. But the body does amazing things when its life is on the line.

It was an absolute showcase of athletic prowess from both of the combatants.

Landing on the ground, he immediately leapt backwards escaping a follow up overhead swing that damn near smashed the ground it hit. No! It did smash it. 'He didn't even bother turning the blade around for that last blow and used the backside, that's dangerous. It's like a double-edged sword.' He thought panting after another extremely close call with the strange boy. The ninja watched in awe as the boy pulled his sword out of the ground and adjusted it in his hand, apparently he was not winded at all from the exertion of what he just did. 'It's all danger with this one, does he not feel that sword he's holding. And he won't even give me time-' The boy locked eyes with him once again, and charged forward.

Naruto poised his blade to his left side, this time holding it with both hands he slashed diagonally at the young man but once again he was unable to catch flesh with his blade. He inadvertently had accidentally lopped down a few trees, signaling he was at the edge of the dirt path. Turning to his left immediately he found the enemy. The ninja had secured safety once again by leaping to his right and took advantage of Naruto's momentary confusion and dashed toward him. Luckily Naruto was able to stop his assault by switching his grip on the sword to his left hand and flinging it out in a stabbing motion, which wasn't very easy to do or dodge with a zanbatou.

Yet the black haired youth disagreed with that sentiment, as he changed the course of his charge to the right side of the blade in an attempt to hit the boy somewhere at his back side. Naruto made the wise decision of dashing forward and effectively escaping from that exchange, which bought him some breathing room as well. 'I can't retreat to often, or he'll feel like he's getting the upperhand.' Naruto thought with intense focus, despite the anger and recklessness he exhibited, he was giving it his all in this fight. To him it was almost like a test, of being a truly strong and brave ninja. He charged again. He would pass.

This time with his right hand cocked, as he held his sword at his side. As he got within a good distance of the enemy shinobi who stood waiting to counter, he lunged out with a fast stab aimed at the ninja's midsection. However, true to the Byakugan user's intentions, he dodged to the inside of Naruto's swing... But was surprised to see another bomb lying within Naruto's left fist coming towards him.

'Dang it! I missed that punch, he went so low-' Naruto thought in astonishment.

It was an odd feeling, he didn't see it but he could tell that ninja had... Poked him... He felt atleast two or three pokes touch him under his thrown left arm, torso and even under his right arm holding his zanbatou. About six or seven hits in rapid succession... But they all landed so lightly. Looking at where his opponent retreated to he saw him get into his stance once again. 'What's he trying to do?' Naruto thought suspiciously, but forced himself to charge again anyway to pressure his foe.

He stopped a bit short of the normal range he would get in usually, to intentionally keep the ninja at range this time. It may have seemed like a moments hesitation to the enemy ninja, but to Naruto he merely only analyzed his eyes and hands with a glance. And then he raised his sword over his head to cut him down... 'Whoah! He's on me already!' True to his thoughts the young man took advantage of Naruto's perceived hesitation and jabbed him with his fingers a few more times in the torso and the arms for good measure and began a backflip to retreat.

'You think I'll let you escape that easily!' Thought Naruto furiously bringing the sword down unto the swift Ninja, or atleast he tried to. If it weren't for how precisely the ninja stuck his foot out mid-flip, catching the blade at the part where it met the hilt and lifting it out of his hands easily, it was incrediby accurate. In fact, it was far to accurate for someone to perform in the middle of a flip with their back turned, he was using some trick and Naruto realized it. As he finished the maneuver the zanbatou was sent flipping into the air in the opposite direction. 'Whatever it is you have, it won't make me back down!' Raising his fists to his face for a guard, he kept pushing ahead to make the small distance between them even shorter.

Running forward he threw a jab just as his adversary regained his footing, but his first blow was to slow and was gently redirected downwards and off course by the ninjas probing hand. Naruto shot his right immediately while retracting his left, the speed of both his hands was able to catch the black haired youth somewhat off guard. He weaved to the left of Naruto's punch, but he was counting on this. His left hand hooked off on the youth and nearly scored the chin of ninja but once again he weaved under and out of harms way, firing light, finger jabs that were only a nuisance to Naruto at this point. Or so he thought...

"Gasp!" One shot, one of the ninjas regular light strikes, it hit his solar plexus and knocked the air out of him in a familiar way. He could tell now that it was his chakra he was beginning to lose feeling of, unlike before when he thought he was going numb. He felt it all happen at once, areas on his arms and chest were tired like they had lived lives of themselves and returned to him with every shred of wear and tear. Falling to his knees, he looked up at his opponent with a tired look. The arrogance and satisfaction of seeing him on his knees was apparent in the ninja's face, he wanted to wipe it off again so badly, just one more time...

"Resilience and unpredictability." Naruto's red, slit eyes had been glazed over for an instant, but they focused in on the opposition in front of him once more. That everlasting glimmer withing his crimson eyes lighting again. "Those are your strengths... But however admirable they may be, I thought you had a bit more under your sleeve than that. I thought I could maybe take this a little further than just this state..." Naruto's brow furrowed dangerously, and even his breathing slowed. The Byakugan glared down at him, and his smile widened voraciously. 'I see it... Don't hide it.'

"Your just like the rest of the weak ninja who reside on this island! You might as well die like them!" Just like that, Naruto's anger was reawakened. The ninja leapt backwards immediately as the ground was torn up around the boy, he could see his chakra rampaging vividly with his eyes. 'Don't hide your true strength from me!' He could see the violent, red chakra as it broke through each tenketsu he had forced blockages upon.

Without wasting time, he pulled both sides of his smooth, dark blue kimono down leaving it hanging at his black sash, exposing his bare shoulders and torso which were somewhat slender. He had a peculiar marking on his shoulder as well, it was 'S' shaped but without the curves, and the middle was a bar with both of the ends being skinny and pointed. 'I've blocked your tenketsu a numerous amount of times, and look at you... Your chakra is still raging and to my eyes, its even healing your chakra pathways... What other option do I have but to put him down with this!'

Miniature versions of that 'S' shaped mark began to spread from the original marking on the ninja's shoulder. 'Now all I have to do is control the direction the cursed chakra moves in!' And the young ninja's hand began to blur along his own body. By the time he was done, the 'S' shaped marks looked like chain links going along two paths down either of his arms, originating from the seal on his shoulder. As the trail of seals reached his wrists, they spread out into a random formation again, marking his hands up almost completely. The left side looked quite a bit more sloppy than the other, due to his broken right forearm, some parts of the pathway of seals were thicker than others and had multiple seals in the same row.

Naruto saw the man's hands blur over his body after he took his robes off, tapping himself with his own move, and was somewhat perplexed at what he was doing. The only thing stopping him from charging directly at the ninja was the intensely vile feeling he was getting from that direction. The ninja got in his stance once again without replacing his top, letting his new markings and the one he had hidden away show. Naruto got on all fours preparing to go on the initiative once more, but was halted by the sound of his opponents voice.

"Well, I guess I can be honest with you now. You're a strong fighter, to make me use this form, you'd have to be." He stared at Naruto who stared angrily back, gripping the earth between his fingers. The situation was extremely tense.

"You're lucky you've made me so curious, otherwise I'd kill you under normal circumstances right now. As a matter of fact I'm going to try my hardest not to kill you after what you've told me. But had I not activated this seal, you'd have killed me..." He smiled astutely.

"I am Hyuuga Izumi." He smiled even more.

"Can I have your name?" It was asked politely enough. Anyone under any circumstances probably would have answered him if asked the same way.

"Uzumaki," He snarled through grit teeth, and without warning leapt forward at a new even greater speed than any he had reached yet, at least during consciousness...

"Naruto." He said sternly. There was somewhat of an updraft between them as he stopped all of his momentum completely once again, his nose only inches away from the extended arm, index and middle fingers of Izumi. 'I can see it! That was our chakra pushing away from eachother, amazing,' he thought as he stared intensely, back at the young Naruto, his smile forgotten instantly.

The boy immediately darted back out of range , no doubt to strike at a different angle at full speed again. A small grin began to pull at the corner of his mouth as he stood in wait tracking the boy with his Byakugan, who was already beginning to dance around its range.

"Ohh."

Next Time:

Find out! Jack shit!

**AN: Yeah he's Hyuuga. With a curse seal. The question is, what are the hundred or so of you reading this going to do about it? Nothing.**

**Take Note: I write this on wordpad, so no spellcheck or none of that good stuff. So all spelling errors and weird shit you see are my own personal retardation.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Howdy.**

"Haagggh!"

Naruto fell to his knees in agony, he couldn't help but letting out that loud cry. 'What did he do to me!?' He thought, clenching his eyes shut from the pain and hunching over as his right hand gripped his chest where he had been struck by Izumi. His forehead met the dirt, and it might of looked like he was groveling to the regal looking shinobi across from him had someone been spectating their duel. The fire slowly left Naruto's mind and body bit by bit, and was replaced by an intense exhaustion and pain that spread from the pinpoint strike he had suffered to his chest. 'He only hit me with one of his regular taps he's been touching me with but-' He couldn't hold it in any longer.

Vomit flew from his mouth, some of the meal he had eaten only minutes earlier, impacting the dirt only inches away from his mouth. Thankfully, some of the pain went with his lunch. He put both hands onto the ground before him, and attempted to lift himself off of the floor...

His arms wobbled as they tried to push himself back up from this feeble position, but they just couldn't get the job done. Naruto tumbled onto his side lying beside his own vomit. Atleast... from this position he could get a glimpse of what the Hyuuga was doing. Izumi stood only a meter across from him, the two paths of curse seals tracing down his arms slowly recededing back into the original, staring at Naruto with those cold white eyes and a stony looking face. Naruto merely smiled into the earth at the sight.

'Atleast you can't look at me the way you used to now bastard.'

And with those last defiant thoughts he slipped into a blissful unconsciousness, escaping the torment of the ninja's finishing blow, it was the first time he had been unconscious since he had woken up. Izumi stood across from the boy, still staring with his Byakugan active, and for a moment all was quiet except for Naruto's soft snoring. The young Hyuuga finally relaxed, letting his Byakugan deactivate, as he let out a breath he himself hadn't known he was holding. He leant forward a bit, placing his hands on his own knees, as he began breathing heavily. It wasn't as if he expended a lot of stamina, it was just how stressful it was fighting the kid.

It was true what he had thought earlier, the kid was a bundle of danger when he fought like that. He looked down at him once again, as he began to pull his kimono back over his shoulders. 'I could've given him a smaller dosage if I had hit him with my right. After all, I controlled the cursed chakra's path better with my Jyuuken in that arm...' Looking down at his broken arm, he began feeling at it with his left hand, and winced in pain again. 'Oh well. He deserved it.'

He opened his pouch, and grabbed some bandages and carefully wrapped his arm with it. Izumi even took some time after that to redo the ponytail that had become rather unkempt during the battle, with a strip of bandage. And with that done he walked forward and with his left hand grabbed Naruto by the ankle, and he began to drag the unconscious blonde along the dirt path to wherever it was he was headed. The Hyuuga began trekking to the edge of the path, marked by the darkly colored wilderness native to the land. Then he stopped moving once again and dropped the boys leg, and turned around abruptly and walked a bit further down the path.

'I bet he'd be pretty upset if I forgot his weapon, and then he'd be impossible to work with.' Only a small distance away was the bottom part of the blade and its thick, and relatively long hilt stuck out of the ground. Izumi wasted no time in jumping over to it, and placing his hands on its handle he gave it a good tug. The blade slid out of the dirt with some effort. To his surprise, it was actually quite heavy to him as he held it with both hands pointed forward at nothing. He took a practice swing, and as the sword reached the peak of its momentum he was taken with it, not so much that he was off balance but enough that it would be crippling if he tried it in battle.

He looked over at the sleeping, shirtless boy and frowned, 'How can he swing this hunk of metal around as if it was nothing. Where does the strength come from?' He thought in amazement, but then he winced a bit as some pain flared up in his right forearm. He let the sword down and began dragging it over to the blonde. 'I have to work on my strength and my pain tolerance, there's bound to be far grittier people within the mist than this boy...' Standing over the boy once more, he painstakingly placed the zanbatou under his sash at his backside and then proceeded to drag the blonde by his leg.

'And according to the young Naruto, he's not even from the Mist.' He thought as he walked straight into the forestry on the side of the pathway, zanbatou at his back and the blonde enigma trailing behind in the dirt. It was already getting somewhat dark, he would rest for the night.

XxX

Naruto awoke to some relatively strange noises, the first thing he could hear were the birds chirping loudly above him, as he lay at the base of a tree. Opening his eyes he could see a trees leaves directly above him towards the right and an awfully bright grey, morning sky. Some animals could be heard scurrying in the bushes at his right side, but none of this was what he found to be strange audibly. What he found strange was the sounds of a person coming from the other side of him... It sounded as if they were... training?

"Haaah!"

"Hoooagh!" Naruto leaned over to his left and saw an entire grassy clearing, although it wasn't to large, and it was of course surrounded on all sides by the deep forest that he had trudged through without destination only a day before. That wasn't nearly as interesting as what Naruto found in the center of the clearing steadily moving towards the opposite side. It was the enemy ninja, he had only fought yesterday, to the death! The only difference in his appearance being the bandage wrapped around his right forearm. Naruto laid there gaping as he swung a sword back and forth weightily. His sword. 'What the fuck...' Normally Naruto rarely cursed, even to himself he chose not to. But that was just a testament to how perplexed he was.

"Haah!" The shinobi swung another practice swing.

He placed his hands out infront of him, and slowly began to rise. They were wobbly at first, but they quickly came back to their usual strength and he got to his knees next, which were steady enough. And he glared in the ninjas direction. The ninja swung in his direction, and the heavy blade took him that way a bit as well and he caught eye of the kneeling Naruto. He halted himself and dropped the sword to the grass, and began panting a bit.

"Oh you're awake! Excellent, I was thinking of leaving you here had you slept any longer!" He smiled happily, in a manner far to sweet for the words he had spoke. Naruto looked at him oddly, confused by the words. 'Why did he wait for me?' Naruto suddenly had a knot build up in his stomach as his nerves started to set him a little on edge. 'Does he want to fight me again?' Naruto looked to where his sword was, and began to rise to his feet. He would need it to win this time!

Izumi saw his glance and casually stepped on the blade.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight you. The reason I brought you to a safe place for you to rest is simple enough... I think I'm a little overdue for a companion to traverse these islands with me." He looked at Naruto seriously, gauging his reaction. Naruto showed a bit of bewilderment at first, and then he stood straight and stared back with a stubborness in his eye that said 'No' almost immediately. Ultimately not what he was going for with his first query.

"Like hell I will! Don't you remember yesterday, we were trying to kill eachother in a one on one Ninja fight!" Naruto was clenching his fists holding them together at his chest at this point. A fire lit behind the bright blue orbs within his eyes.

"How could I go and just be friends with a guy like you after that!" Naruto finished and his mouth closed tight and puckered up towards his nose. His fists slowly lowered, he had a bit of pent up frustration he hadn't noticed building up from having to face down the foe who had just beaten him. He had let alot of it out with that tirade. The Hyuuga looked like he wanted to crack a smile but refrained, to stop from further upsetting the boy.

"Ohh." He had to let that out though. But continued immediately after to stop the boy from attacking him verbally for it.

"Now, who said anything about being friends. We'll just be aqcuaintances, who watch eachothers back and fights when the other is out of commission. Afterall it is pretty daunting to brave these lands by ourselves when you think about it, right?" Izumi seemed to be an expert at talking as well as fighting, Naruto mentally noted. He felt lost on what else to say besides he didn't like him and he felt kind of afraid of traveling with his first enemy ninja ever. But he didn't want to sound like he was childish or a coward either. Naruto grit his teeth as he glared at the young man once again, fists clenched at his sides.

"How do I know you won't try to kill me the first chance you get?" Naruto nearly spat out. Izumi appeared to sigh at that question, but answered it without pause.

"Because I could've killed you in your sleep and been done with you already." He stared back at Naruto. Looking into the blonde's blue eyes, he could see that answer wasn't satisfying enough to clear his suspicion. Izumi couldn't help but sigh again.

"Fine... You are Uzumaki Naruto, strong and brave Ninja of the Leaf, yes?"

Naruto's eyes widened instantly, automatically nodding his head but in his mind he was asking himself questions about the dark haired youth's information. 'How did he know my name? Where did he hear those words fro-'

"You spoke those words yesterday, when we were fighting." Izumi smiled once again, but it was only in bemusement. "You must have really been on a rampage to not even remember you're own words, I assume you don't remember my name either." His smile grew even wider as he looked at Naruto who waited quite patiently for his next words.

"I am Hyuuga Izumi, a genin of the Leaf." He then gave the shellshocked Naruto a look as if to say 'is that enough?'.

But his glance was beyond Naruto at the moment, as he stared at Izumi in a completely new light. He even recognized the word Hyuuga from the village, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint where he had heard it and what it stood for. Either way, just the fact that he recognized it was a godsend, in this lonely, damp and cold place, he could use a companion. And what better than a fellow leaf shinobi... well he wasn't really a ninja, but... 'Hey if he thinks I'm strong enough, then what the heck!' Naruto thought cheerily. Although despite the good feeling bubbling within Naruto, he didn't want to give himself up as a desperate little kid.

He crossed his arms and squinted his eyes nearly shut as he turned to look off into the forested distance. Lip puckered all the way up, he looked somewhat like a regular, stubborn kid. Izumi almost felt bad for hitting him with that Cursed Jyuuken Strike the day before, almost. The boy could get quite ferocious.

"Fine I'll become your partner..." Naruto then turned towards him and gave him a relatively dry look. "Now get your foot off my sword."

Izumi's smiled seemed unable to get any bigger at this point, as he complied with Naruto's demand and slid the sword over to the boy by kicking it. It stopped short of the boy, who picked it up with both hands without any shown effort. He then carefully slid it into the straps adorning his torso... And then looked to Izumi once more and sat cross legged.

"How old are you? And what are we going to do?" Naruto asked inquisitevly. Izumi laughed somewhat annoyingly, it seemed it would take Naruto time to get used to him afterall. The Hyuuga walked closer and also took a seat in the same position across from Naruto and began digging in his pouch, which caused Naruto to tense instantly as his brow furrowed dangerously. He had deduced that very same pouch possibly held weapons the day before while scouting him. It seemed Izumi noticed the danger and tension in the air and held up his right hand to diffuse the situation.

"I'm seventeen, by the way." He said and then swiftly pulled out a map and laid it between them, while Naruto comprehended his age. Naruto became aware that there was no threat quickly after seeing the map, and now focused his eyes on the paper. Not caring in the slightest about the killer intent he just subconsciously let out. Secretly he was proud of himself for indirectly completing his first objective of finding out where he was located. Surely Izumi would know...

"Now point out on this map where exactly we are." Izumi stated calmly, already used to the boy's dangerous moods.

Naruto was surprised at the demand, and looked down at the map. 'But all the elemental countries are on this map, how would I know exactly where we are. How doesn't he know!?' But Naruto didn't want to give up his ignorance just yet, not without giving it a try! Thinking of the weather, he realized that he couldn't possibly be anywhere in the Fire Nation. What else could he go off of? The animals, he didn't know much about. The wilderness? No, he couldn't think of any places with any kind of different forests than the fire nation, let alone one with a forest like this. 'Hmmmm,' The mist...

Slowly Naruto brought his hand up over the map... He placed his index finger down on the map where he thought there location to be. Naruto looked up from the map at Izumi, with an odd, yet slightly determined look in his face. Izumi looked down at the place Naruto was pointing at, and for a moment his pearly white eyes widened for a moment, before returning back to a thinner glance. He then looked up at Naruto with an unreadable look on his own slim face.

"So that is where we are then." For some reason, to Naruto, it felt like some sort of game. It was quite tense for a few moments...

"Just inside the border of Lightning country?" Izumi confirmed.

Naruto nodded, his lip slightly puckered, and his blue eyes wide with certainty. Despite that a slight drop of sweat beaded up on the side of his cheek. A toothy grin nearly split Izumi's face as he got that nod out of Naruto.

"I knew you were a baka."

And then the Hyuuga burst out into that same haughty laughter from before, that really made Naruto feel like he was being laughed at. Which was an awfully unpleasant feeling. What made it even worse was that the Hyuuga had a habit of pointing in your face while he laughed at you. Naruto's face almost showed some hurt but mostly embarassment after discovering he had been wrong after looking so certain. His face then became one of fury.

"Oi! You tricked me, you set that up!" Naruto yelled back at the condescending young man. He was really grinding his teeth inside his mouth, 'What a jerk, I already don't like him! Make me the butt of some stupid joke, will you.' Naruto thought indignantly. Izumi was calming down now, and was doing that thing that he did, where he wiped away tears that weren't there. Naruto couldn't be more annoyed with him. Izumi then looked down and pointed above an area on the map... Water Country.

"We are in the Land of Water or the Land of Mist, whichever you prefer, I myself prefer the latter." Izumi commented.

Naruto's eye twitched, 'Who cares, jerk.' But he continued to try and pay close attention to the knowledgable leaf genin, this was the information he had yearned for. It only added to his confusion though knowing that he had had to travel over a large body of water very quickly for him to arrive here when he did. Just how did he manage to accomplish such a superhuman feat? While mostly unaware of it... He was forced out of those mysterious thoughts by his companion's continued monologue.

"Do you see this large island, surrounded by all of the smaller ones." Naruto looked to where Izumi's finger had touched, took note, and nodded.

"Somewhere on this large landmass, the Village Hidden in the Mist lies, Kirigakure. The Water Country's central military power..." He looked to Naruto as if to make sure he understood that. He didn't continue with anything until Naruto looked up at him and nodded, and then they both looked back down. His finger drifted downwards, one island southwest of Kiri's mainland and stopped on a relatively large island. It was about three times larger than its neighboring island on the left, and was rather close to the long peninsula that came up from Fire Country on the map.

"This is where we are, Island Kaku of Water Country, not too much is known about it due to its hostile inhabitants and unwillingness to open trade routes. Not to mention, despite Kiri's civil war, it still lies under its jurisdiction. Although every island is like that basically." Izumi spoke with a completely straight face, while Naruto stared back desperately trying to grasp what was being told to him. And Izumi continued...

"I was told by an elderly woman I met along the western coast I landed my ship at, that there is a settlement many miles inward to the forest. She had told me to find that pathway we did battle on, follow it and I would find it." Naruto understood this part instantly and nodded vigorously. He felt entirely better than he felt when he first found himself to be lost in the misty forest. With a grasp on where he was and where to go, he felt much more relieved of his mental stress. And... A partner at his side. However, 'I wonder why we're going there though.' Naruto spoke up on his inner question.

"So why are we going to this, ummm... settlement." Naruto asked. This was an objective he could set himself to, he was just a little curious. Izumi showed another shrewd smirk as his head turned elsewhere looking off into the distance, except his smile this time showed many things hidden beneath it.

"Well when I inquired if their were any powerful fellows on this island, she told me a rather small group of 'ruffians' had over taken this settlement, Haji town, and its defenders." Izumi spoke as if he was excited about the very thought of Haji Town and its opressors. He looked to Naruto, who seemed to be in deep thought.

As Naruto heard this, he realized why Izumi had informed him about Kirigakure, its whereabouts and its mainland. It was an indirect way of telling him, the closer we get to there, the higher the caliber of ninja they'd come across. Naruto's partner was turning out to have some bold objectives himself.

'So he truly likes fighting, huh. Pfft, he's not even that good, hmph.' Naruto thought grumpily. 'He's probably trying to force himself to get better by facing strong ninjas... That's not a bad idea.' Naruto resolutely made up his mind and stood up from his cross-legged position. He turned and began walking towards the forest, but before he could disappear within the shrubbery he spoke.

"Well, let's go and show them how the leaf ninjas fight in the mist!" Naruto spoke with his left fist raised in the air, the same fist he broke Izumi's arm with. Not that the Hyuuga realized it.

Izumi smiled again in amusement and began rolling up his map, sometimes it was good to have companionship. As he placed the map back into his pouch he heard Naruto shout to him through the thicket.

"Which way is the path?"

Izumi laughed.

Next Time:

Naruto and Izumi go to Haji Town and do Jack Shit!

**AN: Thank you for your read. Enjoy the wait.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks for the reviews!**

It had been an afternoon and a night since they had begun their long trek along the dirt path amongst the forest, at a relatively slow pace. They had stopped to rest once again when the night had come, at Izumi's behest... Naruto was all for continuing on into the darkness of the forest but it seemed Izumi genuinely got tired from walking long distances. So Naruto begrudgingly complied, and now they began to set out once again through the morning breeze that was evident within the small opening in the brush they had slept in.

"Are we almost there?" Naruto asked curiously as they weaved in and out of the way of branches and leaves as they pushed toward the pathway steadily. Izumi, who was ahead of Naruto, turned towards the boy and smiled a little.

"Honestly, I am not sure. I thought we would have reached there by now, although the woman's directions were somewhat vague." He answered honestly, sweat already seemed to adorn his face. Small beads of perspiration had gathered on his bare forehead, he turned away from the boy and they continued moving. Though today was a bit humid, especially due to the slightly annoying morning mist. Naruto had a hunch that when they reached the pathway the sky wouldn't be the usual dull grey it had been since he arrived in this land.

"But I'm certain that this pathway is the one she had spoken to me about!" He said as they reached the dirt road from before, the same road they had fought eachother on, a decent length back.

The pathway was still surrounded by wilderness, the only difference being that it had gotten smaller. The sky couldn't even be seen anymore as the dark leaves overtook the view above. As they stepped onto the path, Naruto idly wondered if him and Izumi's battle would have been any different had he met him further along the path. Afterall, terrain could vastly lower someones effectiveness depending on the shinobi...

Naruto thought to himself as the pair walked along the dirt pathway, that was slowly but steadily filling up with patches of grass as they continued moving. Izumi looked to his side at the boy, and seemed to think about something for a moment and then spoke up.

"I probably forgot to mention this before, but don't go shouting that you're a leaf ninja at every enemy we encounter. You don't want to start some kind of war with Kiri accidentally..." Izumi said nonchalantly as he walked. Naruto began gaping for a moment and even stopped moving as well. He squinted his eyes in embarassment as he looked at the Hyuuga's back, and began moving again, irritatedly.

"Hey! I only said that because you called me some weak Mist ninja!" Naruto stated back, somewhat annoyed at the offhanded, yet helpful remark. It certainly was quite reckless of him, shouting at Izumi the way he had... Izumi turned back slightly, and replied back to Naruto easily enough.

"Yes, and I bet ninja residing in this land will have much worse to say to you. Just try and keep your mouth closed with that type of information." He regarded Naruto quite seriously there, and Naruto stared back evenly as he nodded. He understood, what he had done was a pretty serious thing to do in a foreign land. It was far more embarassing to Naruto, as he actually knew he wasn't a ninja. But Izumi, probably looked at him like he was a true fool!

"Hmph. Obviously I will. I wouldn't go putting the Leaf in unnecessary danger like that." Naruto said righteously, with his arms crossed.

Izumi had a large bead of sweat built up on the side of his head comically, as he stared at Naruto blankly. 'But... You already did, baka.' Whatever, as long as the kid understood the notion. They carried on through the forest for a bit longer, without words. Naruto enjoying the slight morning mist, and the warmth of it permeating the air around him.

Naruto looked up ahead and saw something he was quite excited to see. The dense wilderness was beginning to spread out, as he looked out into the distance he could see light between the trunks of the trees. His face brightened instantly, and he began running along the path, as he realized the end of the forest wasn't to far away. Izumi looked at the boy and shook his head, slightly annoyed at the young Naruto's chosen pace.

Naruto had been sprinting for a little longer than a minute, before he subconsciously went on all fours and with a few quick dashes he had made it to the edge of the forest. His features only lightened even more at the sight that had greeted his young eyes. Surpisingly, it was a sight he had never seen before. Large rolling pastures extended out infront of him, with many differently sized sloping hills ahead of it. There was one particularly large hill northeast of Naruto's position, and the now grassy path him and Izumi had traveled seemed to go along the base of many of the small hills and looped around the large one ahead.

Naruto stared in amazement, sighting a few animals that appeared to be grazing in the tall grass that was plentiful within the area. 'It's to bad the sky is still that same grey color, althought it does kind of fit the land.' Naruto thought. Izumi appeared a few moments after, coming upon the sight that Naruto gazed upon. Izumi couldn't help but let out a small whistle in appreciation, as he glanced upon the land ahead. The path wove its way along the large grassy knolls, remaining visible as a slightly grassy path with dirt patches popping up every now and then, making its way to the larger one in the background. He took note of this, to himself.

"Its a perfect land to start our adventure, right?" Izumi smiled down at the boys back.

"I've never seen anything like it!" Naruto said, in excitement. The perpetual morning breeze, that had been somewhat pleasant to feel inside of the humid mist within the forest, had become much more apparent. He closed his eyes and took in the scent of the open air. 'It definitely smells different than when I was in Konoha.' His eyes opened and he smiled animatedly... Then he took off running once again down the descending pathway, albeit this time at a slower pace to take in the sights of some of the animals.

He could see some cows, boars and other animals as well and... There appeared to be a large white hump with black sides to his far right, and on the side of it was a group of grazing cows. It appeared to be quite natural but it only made Naruto extremely curious, and he went off of the path and into the tall grass to go and investigate the perceived oddity. As he neared the hump of white stuff, he realized it was moving ever so slightly. He also realized it towered over him, as a large ball of mostly white and black fur... The cows off to the side had nonchalantly exited the area down to the base of the hill they were on and into the forest, but Naruto didn't care for them. His attention was on the unknown animal infront of him.

Unbeknownst to him, Izumi had just appeared over the crest of the hill behind Naruto, walking along the path at his own pace. He was certainly startled at the sight, of Naruto only a meter away from the large, hunched over animal.

"Naruto, what are you doing? Get away from that beast!" Izumi shouted somewhat annoyed, yet hardly concerned. It was just pointless to fight one of those things...

"Why?"

Naruto turned slightly towards Izumi, but was entirely more surpised when the animal turned as well. Showing him the large face of a panda, its eyes squinted lazily as it chewed slowly on a mouthful of grass. It appeared to be staring at him for some reason. Naruto couldn't decipher an animal's emotions, let alone the bland expression this giant panda regarded him with. So he only stared back at the large panda bear in curiosity.

Suddenly... At a decent speed for its size, the panda's left arm lashed out at the blonde boy. It was a mighty swing, sending air flying back, so that the tall grass was pushed flat for a moment and even Izumi felt a small gust from his position. But it didn't send Naruto flying!

The young, self-proclaimed ninja had ducked incredibly low into the grass, getting on all four limbs instantly.

"Baka bear, you picked the wrong kid!" The blonde was a bit ticked off, he had only been wondering what the strange lump of fur was.

He leapt directly into the panda's exposed left side, unleashing a powerful right fist, which actually managed to send the large beast tumbling onto its other side. Naruto landed rather smoothly, and then he leapt backwards a few feet to regain some distance. The panda appeared to be moving once again, it rose to its feet slowly, towering over Naruto at its full height. It was easily twice as tall as Izumi, and was absolutely huge in every dimension. Its black-furred arms were long and thick, and effortlessly rested on the ground even though the panda stood straight up. As it turned its face to look Naruto's way, it had twisted into an angry, pained expression.

"Pfft. You're the one who attacked first." Naruto said, an annoyed expression adorning his own features at the large bear's antics. Apparently he hadn't hurt it enough, as it lifted its right paw high above its head.

Naruto dashed forward quickly to his right, handily evading the attack while getting into the giant panda's guard in one move. The panda's mighty blow pushed the ground inward, sending wind flying away from the point of impact. The tall grass swayed as if it was affected by a wind jutsu rather than the air resisting the panda's swing.

Yet, Naruto was unaffected, and as he quickly darted towards its chest, he let off a perfect aerial combo, a left jab and then a right straight... And then continued throwing his hands wildly into the beast's chest while he had the chance. Only a moment after he had started, did he have to pounce off of the bear's furry torso, due to it collapsing in defeat. He backflipped away into his starting position, with little effort. He took several slow, deep breaths after the skirmish. 'Lately... I'm not even sure just how strong I am.' He had never had to fight before, not even a sparring match, but ever since he had started he had been terribly fierce in combat.

'It feels good to be strong!' He thought to himself, as he turned back to the path and started walking to it.

Izumi shook his head in amusement at the boy's concluded battle. 'What a brute.' He thought, he honestly wasn't to sure how he would have handled the beast himself but the boy seemed to do so with little effort. Just brute strength. He truly was a strong young ninja, and who knew how strong he would grow. It made him slightly jealous, certainly he wasn't nearly the powerhouse the boy currently was when he had been that age. Izumi had only been a novice in the gentle fist style, learning how to implement his Byakugan in hand-to-hand combat. 'Fighting constantly... I've heard one can only surpass their limits by fighting strong foe, after strong foe.' He glanced toward the blonde boy who had now joined him at his side, once again walking along the path, now at the base of a new grassy hill.

'This boy, with no goals whatsoever, carries somewhat the same ideal as me. I guess if I look at-' He suddenly looked up ahead, towards the crest of the small hill ahead of them. Naruto seemed to be off in his own thoughts, and didn't seem to notice his actions.

Now Izumi wasn't some talented sensor ninja, and his Byakugan, although coming from the main branch of the Hyuuga's bloodline, didn't exactly have an extreme range to it. It being more suited for close range encounters... But he could sense when someone was in his immediate vicinity, while not withholding their own chakra signature. That being said, he had a feeling a ninja was just about to appear from over the top of the small hill they were headed towards.

Just as anticipated... A small black dot that got slowly bigger appeared over the hills path way, walking the same path as them.

"Naruto, it appears we have company." Izumi spoke lowly, his smooth voice sounded different than usual. 'Shit, so soon...' He thought.

Naruto caught on to the tension in Izumi's voice and looked towards the traveler ahead of them instantly. The dark figure walked leisurely along the grassy trail, their entire body finally coming into view as they made over the hill entirely. The person was a hulk of a man, for surely they couldn't be female with that body. Naruto couldn't help but notice the man wasn't to many feet away from being as tall as the giant panda he had defeated only moments ago!

He walked with his head down, a dark hood covering his face from the morning light. His arms looked to be crossed as he walked, but it was hard to tell as they were hidden by the sleeves of his black robe, it looked almost as if he were a monk taking a relaxing stroll through the lands. His black robe was relatively short, ending at his waist, and it was adorned with thick white lines coming up from the bottom part of the cloak. He wore baggy, grey hakama for bottoms and black sandals... Naruto couldn't tell if they were shinobi sandals, or regular ones.

After studying the man who was steadily approaching them, Naruto looked up towards Izumi for confirmation. He felt like the man was strong, very strong, he wondered if Izumi thought the same.

Izumi's face stared stonily ahead at the possible ninja who had yet to even glance, and to Naruto it looked like an odd expression for the haughty leaf ninja to wear. 'I bet he's just as nervous as me.' The young Hyuuga glanced down at Naruto who stared up at him anxiously. Izumi then glanced back up to the large figure approaching, donning the same arrogant look he usually carried. This prompted Naruto to get into his mode for another fight, and he looked ahead fiercely, nearly enraged at the unknown adversary already. It was an odd sensation, but right now Naruto felt in control more than any other time he had felt like this, before what few fights he had been in.

'Izumi is different than how he was when we first fought. Maybe its 'cause this guy is really strong.' Said man was already only a few meters away from them and still walking at the same leisurely pace. Izumi still stared at the seemingly unaware man smiling, appearing as if he was regarding him as nothing. Naruto realized something though, 'Or maybe its...' His thoughts were cut off due to Izumi attempting to start a dialogue.

"Oi, I think it's about time you halt." Izumi spoke in that annoying voice that Naruto disliked, the same smile he first regarded Naruto with adorning his face. The darkly robed man merely ignored the proclamation, his pace not faltering for a moment. He looked like a man with a destination. But Izumi's next words caught the man's attention as he actually halted right before them.

"Come now, don't all of you ninja love to do battle? Let us fight to the death!" Izumi said relatively unthreateningly, but Naruto knew the young ninja was dead serious. It was then Naruto realized just how brave Izumi was...

The large man looked down instantly at the bold Hyuuga, giving a glimpse at his face to the duo of Naruto and Izumi. He had a very broad chin and nose, both sharp and angular. His eyes were a deep brown, and they regarded Izumi resolutely, with a deep frown on his face that appeared to almost never leave. He had a light complexion that was visible under the shade of the hood, his skin did appear to be a bit rough along the cheek bones and the nose from what Naruto could see. The man's eyebrows were pointed downward, and his forehead creased multiple times, giving him a very dangerous look as he glared at Izumi from under his hood. He spoke up with a deep voice.

"I am Goenma, of Clan Ko. What is your allegiance?"

The man was deadly serious, everything spoken was meaningful and he truly desired an answer immediately. Izumi hadn't noticed he had lost his casual look as soon as the man glanced down upon them, for the first time in awhile he was at a loss for words. Under the man's overbearing stare nerves set in a little, and he realized this would be a hard fought battle with more injuries to come. He was already getting into his battle stance, when a large amount of fierce chakra burst out dangerously to the right of him. Looking to his side he saw Naruto grinning ferociously at the man, slit-eyes blazing in that same crimson red from before.

"I know that your arm isn't healed yet Izumi! Since it's my fault, I'll fight this first battle as a sign of our partnership!" Izumi's eyes widened, Naruto's blade was held on the pathway, looking as if he was separating Izumi and the now introduced Goenma.

'I hadn't even seen him draw his sword, that huge thing!' Izumi thought frantically, as he saw Goenma's eyes focus in gravely on Naruto. The boy's eyes glared back, his chakra flaring once again, the grass below and around his feet appeared to be trying to escape from the enraged, zanbatou wielding blonde. Izumi couldn't help but leap away from the struggle that was going to break out before him. Just in time apparently, as Naruto brought his sword back into the Hyuuga's former position. He swung it directly towards the large Goenma's face, using both hands for a big swing.

"Groaghhh!" Naruto let out a roar with his attack.

Astonishingly, Goenma took no measures of evading Naruto's swing. He merely raised a meaty hand to meet the blade... And a fierce impact resounded throughout the hillside they fought upon. Goenma's cloak had billowed out behind him due to the wind pushed at him from the boy's blow, exposing an extremely muscled midsection and even a bald head as his hood was also pushed off. Izumi's eyes widened at the fact the man's hand was enough to stop Naruto's blow completely, 'Amazing, It has to be some sort of Kekkai Genkai!'

Goenma's stern, now completely uncovered face looked down upon the incredibly small combatant, atleast to him. But Naruto while surprised at the outcome of his attack, didn't miss a beat from the stopped momentum, and leapt to his right rapidly trying to gain distance from the hulk of a man. He landed off into the tall grass and looked back towards Goenma's position. He was surpised to see the large man already closing in at a breakneck pace.

'He's fast!'

The man was charging with both of his large fists tucked under his torso, Naruto frantically realized he couldn't tell which way Goenma was going to strike him from in a stance like that! The man was already upon him... Naruto anticipated a punch, a powerful one! But which arm? He raised his sword in front of his face using the flat of it in the form of a guard, using both hands for leverage. Goenma shot a cannon of a left hand downward into the small Naruto's blade, directly challenging his defense.

Naruto felt another huge impact as the man's fist met his guard, but the impact was only for a small moment... As right before his eyes, his guard broke, along with his sword. The man's terrifyingly large hand continued to travel its course through the gap that had opened before him, impacting brutally against the upper right side of Naruto's face. Naruto barely knew what hit him. His body was sent into the ground so hard, he had bounced up from his back into the air long enough to gaze at Goenma once again, who was already rising into a regular standing position.

"Tekkai..." Goenma's deep voice grumbled lowly.

And Naruto collapsed into the grass next to his broken sword, his right eye beginning to swell terribly from the blow. Izumi could only gape at the sight before him.

Next time:

Hmmm... I don't know about that one! You're going to have to find out!

**AN: The adventure into the Mist continues! But damn, that Panda was like 11+ feet, ya'll seen that? And Goenma is like 8 feet, shit is real on Island Kaku! See you next time, drop a review if you enjoyed!**

**Remember I will bend Naruto lore and the rules of Chakra to my will. Fanfiction! Yeah! **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Let us read... and review? Maybe...**

Leaves rustled softly in the barely palpable breeze of a beautiful morning, a morning that was quite common in Fire Country. The forest was silent, as even the animals desired to sleep in on such a pleasant day. A bright light shone from the blue sky as the sun focused down upon the bright green land. And the leaves of a tree rustled again... And again. Then the soft leaves of a bush began to sway in the almost nonexistent morning wind. Except they weren't swaying due to the wind.

"Oi, Pakkun. You still have the trail, right?" The lazy voice of a nondescript looking shinobi darting through the woods at incredibly high speeds droned out the question. He was donned in all black, a thin long-sleeve shirt with equally thin pants that were taped down at the ankle going into blue shinobi sandals. He had black, fingerless gloves, with metal plates on the backs of his hands. On his head was a black bandanna and the only bit of contrast in color on him being a white porcelain mask with traditional slits for eyeholes. There was an angular looking frown etched into the mask as well. He was flanked on either side by his companions who were dressed in similar gear as him, even having the same identical masks with frowns.

"Hmmm. Aye, but the chakra's scent dies down quite a bit up ahead." A cutely dressed pug-like dog answered, as odd as it sounds, at the lead of the group. It was even dressed to match the likes of the squad of ninja at its back. It was probably most surprising how the dog was keeping pace at the head of the group, but that was another matter...

"Katsumi, have you been able to get a scent of the target yet?" The question was asked condescendingly by the obvious taicho, the lazy manner it was asked in made it even worse.

"Hai, Kakashi-taicho. During the original dispatch of Hunter-nin, it was impossible to catch his physical scent because of the impossible distances he traveled without touching anything. The scent of blood only took us so far. Thanks to your summons' ability, I've found his scent and it appears the target took his first rest here, quite a distance further than any of us could have anticipated..." The masked ninja closest to Kakashi's back explained earnestly. Although he had an expression of irritation hidden under his mask at his squad captain's question and tone.

"Ahhh, nice excuses. But me being who I am, I see right through them..." The masked Kakashi turned towards Katsumi, who could almost see his Taicho's lazy glare through his eye's slit. He gulped nervously under his mask at the possible reprimanding, and even a demerit, he could get from the man.

"You're just an Inuzuka who can't smell, huh."

A feminine giggle escaped from the ninja at Kakashi's other side further to the back in the formation. Katsumi fumed, once again hidden behind his mask not that Kakashi would have noticed. He had already turned away, looking ahead at his summons, Pakkun, who nodded back at him. Kakashi gave a hand signal to the team of Hunter ninja's who responded by slowing down their pace smoothly, coming to a stop on the outskirts of what probably used to be a nice looking clearing. Afterall, there were still some flowers blooming on the side where they stood. Starting from the opposite side, but taking up most of the center, there was a huge crater most likely from the Jinchuuriki's uncontrollable bursts of chakra.

Kakashi walked forward with Pakkun at his side, who sniffed around for a bit and then stopped immediately catching on to the strong scent he had lost earlier. Kakashi was in his own thoughts as he stopped at the edge of the crater, 'A quick rest, and then you were off again weren't you... Naruto.' He couldn't help but shake his head of those sad thoughts, right now the mission was to retrieve at all costs, he could get moody after Naruto was safely back in Konoha. The first stage was tracking, and what tracks they had found! This was the greatest mark Naruto had left in his grand escape since that courtyard in Konoha where he was first attacked, which was amazing at the least. The boy naturally moved very swiftly, his movements seemed to barely leave a trace even with an open wound while influenced by his tenant's chakra, then again that influence is probably what helped him the most.

"It seems he headed towards the border of Tea's annexed northern territory..." Katsumi analyzed. He had also begun inspecting the damage while standing along the outskirts of the relatively shallow but wide crater. Kakashi glanced towards him, but he couldn't decipher why underneath the copy-nin's hunter mask.

"If you don't mind me asking, Taicho, I was wondering why you enlisted as a temporary captain in the Hunter ninja corporation for this assignment?" Asked Katsumi curiously, more to try and break the ice with his cold taicho. They had rarely had moments for socializing and he hadn't realized how displeased the profound leaf ninja was with him.

It was a simple question with no real ulterior motives to it, but Kakashi couldn't possibly disclose the answer to it honestly due to the vast classification difference there was between them. Despite his teammates being quite skilled Jounin. Nonetheless he had an answer for the nosy Inuzuka.

"Hm, why should I tell a botch of an Inuzuka like you anything?" Well maybe not an answer.

Katsumi visibly faltered at that one, and began to rub his face along the large amount of fur along the collar of his solid black jacket. He seemed to be petting it... And tears fell from his eye slits animatedly. 'If only I had your nose Haru, I'd never be in this mess. Come back! My Haru!' A spotlight in the darkness shone down upon the now kneeling shinobi, coming from absolute thin air.

'What the...' Kakashi was moving away from the awkward scene, but halted as the third member of the team, Shigeru Saiko, approached. She was dressed exactly the same as Kakashi, with even the same color of sandals, Katsumi wore his own dark grey sandals. The only thing that made her stand out from looking exactly like Kakashi was her height, being quite a bit shorter than her teammates and the twin kodachi she had secured onto a tan belt around her waist.

"Forgive me Kakashi-taicho, but I too am curious as to why you have switched to our corps from the regular Jounin workforce." She spoke softly, with her smooth, yet somewhat high-pitched voice.

'Oh, now the pressure is on.' Kakashi thought sarcastically. He would give her an answer just because he wasn't irritated with this Hunter ninja. She wasn't present on the original failure of a retrieval mission that took place only days earlier. The disraught Inuzuka rose from his position, sensing an answer may come from his Taicho. Katsumi stood and paid close attention, as he was the one who was originally interested in the topic.

"Well the reason is as simple as you might expect, the original team failed horribly in their efforts in retrieval of a highly vital asset to our village. They failed in an area where I believed my skills would prevail so I enlisted to serve as one of the Hunter ninjas assigned to this delicate operation." The elite jounin drawled out.

The Inuzuka who had worked on the previous mission understandably cringed at the simple, yet painful reasoning. And what else could you expect from the Copy Ninja, his personality was relatively bland without his Icha Icha. It's not like he'd have some emotionally inspiring reason behind everything he had done to put together this operation. It was just clear and cut, straight from a ninja's handbook. Atleast that's how they percieved it.

"With my status, it wasn't to long before I was assigned some pups to lead and permission to set out." He turned away from his squad towards the destroyed clearing before him. He looked at the opening in the brush that was obviously Naruto's exit from the clearing. Kakashi then glanced towards Pakkun, who glanced back giving him a ready nod.

"Now let's continue. If the target has passed the border we'll need to send a messenger hawk back to Hokage-sama, and wait for permission to operate as a black ops unit. We should make haste, just in case it comes to that." Stated Kakashi sternly, not wanting the trail to get any colder.

"Hai!" The resounding confirmation was music to his ears. Afterall, he hadn't lead a group of highly trained ninjas since he was a brat.

XxX

His vision swam heavily. A splitting headache tormented him, not letting up for a second despite him grasping at his hair and silently beckoning it to stop. He tried to look ahead but all he could see was coming from his left side, he couldn't make anything out with his right eye. Hills blurrily stretched on into the distance far past anywhere he could reach at this moment. And then he caught a small trace of movement from his side, glancing towards it instantly... He could make out a huge foot covered by a sandal turning away from him. He placed a hand out onto the ground in front of him, 'I have to get up and show him...' He pushed using both hands, he was able to rise to his knees.

'I have to show the Old Man! I can be strong too!' Naruto's teeth grinded against eachother, eyes shut in effort. He was dazed in and out of consciousness at this point, but desperately holding on. 'Show him that I'm not lying!' Teeth clenched visibly, he turned to look upwards towards the behemoth of a man with a glare in his one good eye.

Goenma had instantly stopped moving, and turned a brown eye down on Naruto forebodingly. As there eyes made contact, a swift meaty kick shot from the standing Goenma's position impacting against the boys exposed ribcage. Naruto's unswollen left eye widened in agony and he let out a silent scream from the strike, and was sent soaring through the air. He flew opposite the tall grass for a bit, until he made contact violently with the ground at the base of a hill. His momentum didn't stop there, as he bounced off of the grassy floor and rolled into the edge of the misty forest. Although he was stopped, thanks to the leaves and bushes breaking his momentum.

Goenma turned back towards the boy who had originally provoked him. His stony expression didn't change once at seeing the other boy in his own soft looking stance, strange veins surrounding the young man's white eyes. He took his robe off nonchalantly as he slowly approached the ready Izumi, who still stood back in his original position he had retreated to. His short cloak fell to the ground exposing an absolutely rippled form, muscles and battle scars littered the man's exposed torso and arms.

"That is probably the toughest child shinobi I've ever seen... though not the smartest." Goenma spoke seriously, it didn't sound like he was trying to make small talk, more like he was forcing himself to speak those words to someone he hated. And right now the only person who fit that bill was Izumi, standing before him. Izumi stared into the man's grave visage, the same perpetual frown from earlier still present on his face. A bead of sweat traveled down the side of the Hyuuga's face, his Byakugan flaring, as he waited for his opponents next move.

'I just have to be calm, this is a perfect match-up for me. I'll just be at a bit of a handicap due to my arm. It's sad that I needed that boy's life just to confirm something such as that...' Izumi's reassuring thoughts faltered as he thought of the boy he had only known for a few days. It was a sad thought to think of, but he had never seen anyone get hit that hard before... And the impact was something terrible. 'It's as if the man was hardening his limbs as he struck the young Naruto, it would explain how he was able to stop Naruto's swing earlier from his zanbatou.' He gave Goenma a hard stare, as he came to a stop in the swaying tall grass to the side of the pathway he stood.

"He is quite strong, don't you think you were a tad excessive kicking him while he was down like that? Surely the boy was already defeated at that point." Izumi asked reservedly, but he stated it more than questioned.

"Hmph, you still have much to learn in the ways of Ninja. The look that boy gave me... It wasn't the look of a Ninja who was nearly defeated." Goenma said, as a small smile began to creep up his face oddly enough. He turned slightly back towards the woods, "His eyes said 'this fight is just beginning!"

XxX

"Bleghh!" Naruto coughed blood onto the ground as he lay on his right side under a bush between a few trees on the outskirts of the forest he had been traveled within previously. It hurt laying on his disgustingly swollen face, but he thought it would be better than laying on his left side, alot of things felt messed up over there... He thought it was most likely his ribs. His mouth was stuck open, dripping blood every now and then. He was being tortured from the pain he currently felt, he couldn't move anymore, he just stared at the leaves in front of him with his left eye wide open. There were no thoughts of inspiration to guide him, or distract him from the pain. Just utter agony.

But he wanted to get up. He wanted to get up and go defeat that man with all he had... All he had? 'I... already used it huh? And he stopped it... like it was nothing.' Naruto thought grimly.

"Eghheh!" He coughed out blood again, as an image of Goenma blocking his sword with one hand popped into his mind, his cloak billowing behind him brilliantly. Another image of the man breaking through his sword with his fist appeared and then a fierce pain throbbed on the right side of his face. Then after, that a sharp sting spread from his left side to every corner of his body and he lay in wait for his agony to cease. Not even having the strength to clench his fists to tough out the pain.

He couldn't defeat that man, he was to powerful. It was up to Izumi, it had to be... He wasn't strong enough, 'All I have isn't close to enough to compete with that man...' And with that depressing thought Naruto's eye slowly began to shut, as he drifted into blissful unconsciousness. Yet something stopped him.

**"All you have... isn't enough? Boy, let me show you. You've barely scratched the surface to 'all you have'."**

His left eye widened in overwhelming surprise. 'What is that voice? Its the same as before! And what is this sensation!?' He didn't have time to notice the hot chakra building up within him through the pain. It felt like his chakra was doing wondrous things inside of him as he laid on the ground. It was a truly odd feeling that felt somewhat soothing, as he felt the swelling in his right eye go down rapidly while he simultaneously regained vision in that eye. No longer did he feel the hot searing pain on that side, but the cool feeling of the earth's grass touching him comfortingly.

The left side of his body was a tad bit of a more painful story, as it felt like bones began to mend themselves inside of his body and other things as well. But it wasn't anywhere near as painful as what he had to go through before. He easily absorbed that pain. The chakra inside of him was now at an extreme boiling point and he needed to release it. He closed his mouth as he lay staring ahead, and his brow furrowed furiously, as his teeth clenched into a near vice grip showing off fierce looking canines. He clenched his fists soon after. 'Izumi won't need to lift a finger.'

**"Now get up and go kill that Ninja with everything **_**you have**_**."**

For now Naruto wouldn't delve deeper into this dark voice, he was just thankful for its assistance in his time of need. He put his fist on the ground and rose, he placed his other fist on the floor and stood. Looking through the sparsely positioned trees he could clearly see next to a hilltop stood Izumi and Goenma, who appeared to be looking at him already. A cold rage took him as he faced down Goenma in the distance, and he walked purposefully through the short brush he had found himself in. There was red steam coming off Naruto in certain places of his body, his biceps and forearms, thighs and calves, areas of his torso, and quite a bit coming off of the right side of his face. He stopped moving unexpectedly.

And then he darted towards the hulk of a man at a high velocity.

'He's fast. Tekkai.' Yet Goenma planned to punch a hole through the boy with his ability at this point. He swung with his right hand aiming at the blonde blur that was closing in on him rapidly. The man was caught off guard by Naruto completely halting his momentum, while seemingly softly leaping inside of his guard.

It appeared to him, Naruto had gained a higher grade of speed and an even greater control of it, and it truly perplexed him. At point-blank range he could see the boy already in motion with a beautiful left straight punch for the odd angle he was now in. He could see the intensity in the boy's mug and both of his shining red eyes... Even the right one through the odd red steam that was being emitted from that side of the boy's face. 'His face should be a complete mess by now! Tekkai!'

A loud boom resounded throughout the hillside as Naruto's left fist slammed into the hard torso of Goenma.

And another loud crack boomed throughout the area, as Naruto followed up with his right straight. It landed cleanly into the same spot as the first left. He had to pounce away using Goenma's torso as a stepping stone, to dodge said man's follow up hook. It was similar to the attack he had used on the giant panda bear earlier. But Goenma wasn't one to let him escape that easily, and he charged at the boy while he was still in midair with nowhere to go. The large man would have caught him easily, if he hadn't stuttered in his step giving Naruto time to backflip towards the grassy terrain and leap further away.

"Hah." Goenma panted once, as he stopped in his movements and felt his chest where Naruto had pounded mightily on only moments earlier. He then looked sternly towards the crimson eyed boy ahead of him who glared back, 'He hit me perfectly with that combo when my blood limit was deactivating...' Goenma jumped to his side quickly as a bracing of senbon flew past his former position from his blind spot, proving once again how nimble he was for his size. He glared down at the annoying white-eyed ninja from his position now nearly on the grassy hilltop. The young ninja spoke from where he was, located further down the path closer to Naruto.

"This may be my partner's fight, but if you make yourself such an easy target I may as well pick you off myself." Izumi spoke with his usual smile, he was a bit happy at seeing Naruto come back and realized the boy was only getting his second wind. He'd have to get used to that. Nareuto couldn't help but nod at that, those words made him feel kind of good, even coming from the arrogant Hyuuga.

Goenma looked downwards at the other boy who now was on all fours within the tall grass staring with those bright red eyes, ready to pounce at a moments notice. The red steam coming from what he believed to be the boy's muscles, gave him an even more intimidating image. Goenma looking at the two boys below, now grasped that his life might be on the line here. He wouldn't have it any other way, because what that arrogant white eyed boy had said initially was correct. All ninja in this land want to do is fight. They want to use their ninja skills and special abilities for what they were designed for, war and mortal combat with other powerful ninja.

"Hmph, fine after I crush him I'll come crush you into paste boy. I'll leave a message on both of your bodies for your loved ones to try and take revenge upon the Ko clan." He glared at Izumi once more, his frown far deeper than before. Izumi looked at him with a strange look at hearing the words the Ko clansmen spoke of. Goenma then glanced towards Naruto, his brown eyes laying into the ready blonde.

"Let's continue this fight, I haven't been hit that hard... in quite some time."

Naruto obliged by rushing towards the man at new speeds, surpassing great speeds he had only reached days before.

Next time:

Forget about it! What do you care?

**AN: The journey to Haji Town has been halted by this... wall of sorts. And watch out, you got Hunter Squad Kakashi on the trail too! The story develops... Oh and as you can see, I like my onomatopoeia! Until next time.**

**Thank you for your read!**


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